‘words (λόγοι, logoi) of THE WORD (Του Λόγου, Tou Logou)’ponders the Sacred Scriptures, the Sacred Liturgy,Fathers of the Church and RCIAas a response to the call for a New Evangelizationthat by the grace of God the Holy Spiritall may encounterGod the Son, Jesus the Incarnate Wordand be drawn in love as adopted children toGod our Father Who is Merciful Love.

The Bread of Heaven and the Cup of Salvation

Today’s Second Reading from theOffice of Readings (Liturgy of the Hours)
Saturday with the Octave of Easter

On the night he was betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said: “Take, eat: this is my body.” He took the cup, gave thanks and said: “Take, drink: this is my blood.” Since Christ himself has declared the bread to be his body, who can have any further doubt? Since he himself has said quite categorically, This is my blood, who would dare to question it and say that it is not his blood?

Therefore, it is with complete assurance that we receive the bread and wine as the body and blood of Christ. His body is given to us under the symbol of bread, and his blood is given to us under the symbol of wine, in order to make us by receiving them one body and blood with him. Having his body and blood in our members, we become bearers of Christ and sharers, as Saint Peter says, in the divine nature.

Once, when speaking to the Jews, Christ said: Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you shall have no life in you. This horrified them and they left him. Not understanding his words in a spiritual way, they thought the Savior wished them to practice cannibalism.

Under the old covenant there was showbread, but it came to an end with the old dispensation to which it belonged. Under the new covenant there is bread from heaven and the cup of salvation. These sanctify both soul and body, the bread being adapted to the sanctification of the body, the Word, to the sanctification of the soul.

Do not, then, regard the eucharistic elements as ordinary bread and wine: they are in fact the body and blood of the Lord, as he himself has declared. Whatever your senses may tell you, be strong in faith.

You have been taught and you are firmly convinced that what looks and tastes like bread and wine is not bread and wine but the body and the blood of Christ. You know also how David referred to this long ago when he sang: Bread gives strength to man’s heart and makes his face shine with the oil of gladness. Strengthen your heart, then, by receiving this bread as spiritual bread, and bring joy to the face of your soul.

May purity of conscience remove the veil from the face of your soul so that by contemplating the glory of the Lord, as in a mirror, you may be transformed from glory to glory in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

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About Me

Fr Mark is a Roman Catholic diocesan priest of the Philadelphia Archdiocese teaching full-time as an Associate Professor of Religious Studies and as an Instructor in the Graduate Counseling Program at Holy Family University in Philadelphia, PA. Having earned a doctorate in Sacred Theology under the guidance of the late Fr Ambrose Eßzer OP at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Rome), Fr Mark also serves the Church as an adjunct professor at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary teaching Patrology and Sacramental Theology. In October 2016, he began serving a term as a consultant to the Communications Committee, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. When not engaged in teaching, he pursues scholarship in the areas of Teilhard de Chardin, Eastern Patrology, Sacred Scripture, Liturgy, RCIA and the New Evangelization. He also devotes some time to increasing skills in the areas of html5, php, mysql, Wordpress and apps as an Apple® and Helix (Macintosh database) developer. Over the years, he has dabbled in the ‘man cave’ of his cabinetry and welding tool shop and, as a former electrician and boilermaker, did volunteer work for a non-profit housing organization.